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The Catalyst
'"The Catalyst" '''is the thirteenth episode of ''Renaissance, the sixth season, and the 133rd episode overall. It was told and narrated by Rhys, premiering on January 9, 2015. In the episode, The entirety of the Catalyst plays out in the past, revealing not only the Necromancer's identity, but also his motives. In the present, SECKLE converges on the Haunted Mansion, only to find the horrors within far beyond their possible imagination. The Game is revealed. The Episode GINGERBREAD JENNYFER BLACK 33 YEARS AGO Holding Jake's gold and blue hat, Cammy ran back home. His mother was cooking. "Cammy, help me with this will you..." "I HATE JAKE!" Cammy shouted. Cammy's mother was slightly perturbed. Her son's anger was becoming more of a problem. She remembered what the therapists said: be calm, ask questions, sympathize. "What happened?" Mom said. Cammy sat angrily at the table, throwing Jake's hat across the room. "Jake didn't want to play with me." "Oh," Mom said, "What did you want to play?" "I wanted to reenact my favorite movie." "What movie that?" Mom said. Cammy sniffed. SPOILERS. HAUNTED MANSION SECKLE had met up in the courtyard. Anna and Koala explained in a rush that Jake had been dead the entire time, but that kissing him, showing him love, had officially killed him. "So we just gotta make out with all the corpses?" the Mailman had said. The first floor of the Mansion was barricaded on all sides. But on the second floor, it was different. "Doors," Simon said, pointing to the six red doors on the wall. "The Necro could be behind any of these," Ethan said. "Wait," Deeba said, analyzing the doors, "They have our names on them." The room fell silent. SECKLE stood in front of their respective doors. Anna reached out for her knob and wrenched it open, jumping away as if a knife were to come out and impale her. She peered around to look inside. And screamed. Slamming the door, she doubled back, fell over, screaming all the while. Koala opened it and looked inside. She sucked in her breath. "It's Madi," she said, "Madi's body." She paused. She wrenched open her own door. Nutty Jr's body was inside. Both corpses were upright, eyes closed, completely erect. Deeba and Simon exchanged looks. Who would be on the other side of their doors? The Mailman opened his a crack and then closed it, his face white. "Who..." "Nevermind," the Mailman said. Ethan opened his and nearly threw up. "Mom..." he whispered. Simon opened his next. "Dad..." Deeba went last. Everyone's eyes were on her. She twisted the knob and pulled, praying to God it wouldn't be... "NO!" She threw herself into the closet, feeling the pulse of her last living brother. But Julius Gallifreyan was dead, his throat blue. "Welcome." SECKLE backed away. The Necromancer was leading over twenty dead people down the stairs. He wore a crown atop his head and the red T-shirt Deeba had given him. A cape was tied around his neck and a scepter was in his right hand. "I see you've found your opponents." "Our whats?" Simon said, stammering. The Necromancer smiled. "Follow me." ESPLANADE FIVE YEARS AGO "Thanks for meeting me," Cammy said. Anna sighed. Two hours ago, Cammy called her, talking all sorts of horrible things. She agreed to meet him to calm him. "You always helped calm me down," Cammy said, "Tell me a story?" Anna groaned inwardly. "Sure," she said, "Ever hear of Blele?" Anna knew that was dangerous, telling him about Blele. Few people knew. But Anna just made up some stupid story. She left out all the crucial details, like where to find the HQ, etc etc etc. But as long as he stopped talking to her, whatever. "Where can I find these people?" Cammy asked, "Maybe they'll play with me." "Uh," Anna said, "They're not real. It's just a story. Literally made it up just now." "No," he said, "I'll find them. I'll find Blele!" Aww crud, Anna thought. HAUNTED MANSION PRESENT DAY "Follow me," the Necromancer said. He led the way across the room, shielded by his army of the dead. SECKLE reluctantly followed, throwing back looks at their loved ones, especially Deeba, who was shaking. Anna watched the Necromancer's movements. He was beaming, bouncing with excitement. This must be the Game. The Game of Thrones was a test. Phase 1. She remembered. He copied Maze Runner and said it was time for Phase 2. But what was Phase 2? What was worse than the Throne? "In here," the Necromancer said, opening the coffin on the far wall. Peering down, Anna could see it dropped into the Earth. "You have to jump," he said. "No!" Simon said, "We're not going!" The Necromancer snapped. Four dead people grabbed Simon and began tearing at his limbs. Screaming in pain, Simon finally agreed, going first. He leapt into darkness. Deeba went next, followed by Ethan. Then the Mailman. Koala glared at the Necromancer before jumping. Anna went last, taking one final look at the sun, praying it would not be the last time she'd see it. She jumped. AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL Anna felt water. Then, she slammed into it. Choking and sputtering, she clawed at the walls around her as the current pushed her forward. She heard her friends calling out ahead of her. And then the tunnel filled with light and she crashed into the Earth. Koala and Simon helped her up. She looked around, squinting in the harsh sunlight. "This isn't real," Deeba said, "Remember when we entered the Mansion? It was sundown. Now it's the middle of the afternoon." "Feels real," Anna said, covering her eyes with her hand. "It's not real," the Necromancer said, appearing in the tunnel. He, unlike SECKLE, was not sopping wet. His army followed him. "Hold them," he said, "Take their weapons." SECKLE was defenseless as the Necromancer's army stripped them of all possible exit strategies. "What's the game?" Deeba asked, "Target practice?" "No," the Necromancer said, "It's far more fun than that." He gestured behind them at the futuristic looking teleporter. "But that's a..." the Mailman said. The Necromancer laughed. "Scared yet?" The Mailman swallowed. Anna could see his lip was trembling. "What?" Koala said, "What is it?" "It's a TARDIS," the Mailman said, "He cannibalized a TARDIS." "Not your TARDIS?" Ethan said, examining the machine. "No," the Necromancer said, "Which is why it's so terrifying." He smiled and snapped six times. The grave rumbled and then the six bodies from upstairs emerged. The Morgan parents, Julius, Madi, Nutty Jr, and the Mailman's loved one moved slowly across the landscape toward SECKLE. Anna examined the Mailman's. It was a woman. Young, very beautiful. She had brown hair and a sad look in her eyes. But that look was frozen in time, locked behind a window of the Necromancer's horror. She didn't have a blue glow in her throat. Looking down the row, Anna saw that only Mr. Morgan and Julius had blue glows. The rest were plain. So four were revived after death. Mr. Morgan and Julius took the pill before they died. What did that mean? What was the difference? "This is the Game," the Necromancer said, "And these are your opponents. You will..." "What the hell is this?" Anna said, "Why are we doing this?" The Necromancer glared at her. "You remember." "Yeah, but I don't," Simon said, "What is this?" The Necromancer smiled. "I call it the Catalyst." He turned to Anna, "Should I tell it or should you?" Anna was silent. "Fine then," the Necromancer said, "Let me explain." MJENK HEADQUARTERS FIVE YEARS AGO Cammy found the tree. It took him a while, but he found it. Anna had said Blele was in a desert, but Cammy was able to discover that desert meant tree in some archaic language. She was sending him on a treasure hunt! Cammy ran inside. The members of Blele were sitting at a square table. Someone sat in the center. There was a gold turnstile, locked, in front of him. That was probably to keep wackos out. "Blele," Cammy said, "My name is..." But then he realized. It was Anna. It was Jake. It was Nutty Jr. It was Madi. It was Valerie. They were Blele. All of his friends! He smiled and shook the turnstile. "Um, hi," Valerie said. She said it like he was a stranger. "Hi," Cammy said. "Look," Koala said, "this is really not a good time. Could we come find you later?" "No," Cammy said, grabbing hold of the locked turnstile, "Open this." "I'm sorry," Koala said, "That is not protocol. We're going to have to ask you to leave." "OPEN THIS!" Cammy screamed. He tried climbing over it, but a shock suddenly ran through his body. He fell to the ground, hitting his head. He quickly got back up, eyeing his friends. 'Friends.' "Let me in," he said again, "LET ME IN!" Anna cast Nutty Jr. a glance. He got up and unlocked the turnstile. Cammy sauntered inside. "Where can I sit?" he asked angrily. Anna pointed to the roped off area to her left. "That's the visitor section." "VISITOR SECTION?" Cammy cried, "Why can't I sit here?" He motioned at the large table. It was sleek, beautiful. They could play all sorts of things. "You have to sit there," Nutty Jr. said, "That's why it was built. For visitors." "But then I would feel excluded," Cammy said, "I want to be included." Nutty Jr. sighed and pulled up a wooden chair from the corner. Cammy sat irately. "So," he said, "What actually IS Operation Blele? Anna made me think it was a myth." "Well," Koala said, "We're a task force. Secret. We maintain the peace of VMK." "And we don't go by Blele," Jake said, "it's MJENK. Madi, Jake, Ellie, Nutty, Koala." "Name penned by me, by the way," Nutty Jr. said, "It's like an alliance of awesomeness." "That's what I thought," Cammy said, though that was not the case at all. It was worse than he could have possibly imagined. "So," he said, "Can I join?" The whole table blinked before saying no in unison. Cammy jumped up. "BUT WE'RE FRIENDS! AND ALL YOU DO IS LIE AND FIND WAYS TO MAKE ME SAD!" "You should leave," Nutty Jr. said, taking Cammy by the arm. But he whacked it away, continuing to scream. "Really, Cammy," Nutty Jr. said, "Just go. We can talk later. You'll feel better." "SHUT UP!" Cammy cried. "We're not children anymore," Madi said, "We can't all play all the time." "But that's all I ever wanted," Cammy said, "AND YOU NEVER EVER LET ME HAVE THAT!" "Please leave," Jake said. "WHY ARE YOU BEING SO MEAN?!" Cammy screamed. Madi and Jake caught glances. They nodded at each other. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Cammy cried, snatching away Madi's phone. He looked down. No. She was trying to call the national guard. SHE WANTED HIM ARRESTED! He let out a primal yell and snapped the phone, throwing the pieces at Madi. "YOU WERE THE START OF THIS!" he yelled, "YOU AND JAKE YOU WHORE!" Madi raised her eyebrows. Then she nodded at Koala. "WHY IS EVERYONE NODDING?!" Cammy tried climbing on the table to get a good whack at Koala, but Jake and Nutty dragged him off. They lugged him toward the door as he kicked and screamed. "You've done it now," Jake muttered, "We're never gonna wanna see you again after this." Cammy froze for a few seconds. Were they serious...? No, they couldn't be... The door burst open and three burly guards grabbed him. Nutty Jr and Jake let him be carried away. He wriggled as the headquarters left his vision. "THIS WAS IT!" he screamed, "THIS IS THE CATALYST! AND ONE DAY! ONE DAY YOU'LL PLAY WITH ME!" THE FIELD PRESENT DAY SECKLE was silent. Anna and Koala looked at the ground. "And so here we are," the Necromancer said, "This is it. My Game is ready. This is the Game we will all play together." Deeba could see Anna and Koala were crying. In front of them, Nutty Jr. and Madi were scarily standing, just as Julius was for her. "Off we go, then," the Necromancer said, "I'll explain the rules once we get inside." "Inside where?" Simon asked. The Necromancer pointed at the broken TARDIS. "Through the looking glass." "Yeah," the Mailman said, "Well I hope you have a scientific report on how you bloody raised the dead." The Mailman hopped on the ride that sent him into the teleporter. There was a zap and he was gone. The Necromancer went next with three of his zombies. The remaining 'opponents' as he called them made sure everyone else went through. "I'll be here," Simon said to Deeba, "We'll survive this. We will always survive." "Tell that to Blake," Deeba said, "And Julius." Deeba hopped on the ride and rode into the abyss. THE ARENA It felt like dying. Deeba went cold and everything went black, but then there was an enormous burst of light and she was toppling on the ground. There was a loud whirring sound to her left and a lot of clamor on her right. Standing, she could see what appeared to be an enormous generator, buzzing and clashing, sending power to the Game. Whatever the Game was. Deeba was pulled aside by two zombies. They strapped her to a purple pirate chair on the top left level. The Mailman was in the blue director chairs below her. Anna was in the purple chair to Deeba's left. Koala was in the tiki chair. Simon was in the gumdrop level. And Ethan was in the barrel chair level. All of them sat on the aisle. And all of them were bound. The Necromancer sat in the candy corn chair facing SECKLE. He was smiling as the rest of zombies floated into the arena. Deeba watched in horror as the six loved ones took the seats next to them. Julius was to Deeba's right, eyes dead. The entire pink--team maybe?--was comprised of people Deeba had never seen. But then they arrived. One by one. Amy and Nick, alive, but scared. Amy's father, Nick's grandmother. Amy and Nick joined the red side. The pink team was filling up, but still half the seats were empty. "What is this place?" Deeba said loudly and a large echo resounded. The Necromancer took a microphone. "Welcome," he said, "to the Necromancer's Game of Cute or Boot." Anna gasped. Ethan gagged. Cute or Boot. An innocuous game. With the dead. "I am your host," the Necromancer continued, "Cammy the Ultimate, the Necromancer. But I'll go by Cammy for your sakes." "Got business cards?" Simon muttered. The teleporter amped up again and bodies started to ride in. Cammy smiled broadly. "Let's play!" Production Continuity and Story Arcs The Necromancer's Game was finally revealed to be Cute or Boot. The entirety of the Catalyst played out as well as the Necromancer's VMK identity. References Trivia *The actual Catalyst is a rendition of an actual VMK event. It is a severe dramatization and is no where near what the actual event was like. Category:Episodes Category:Renaissance Episodes